Will That Be All Mr Stark?
by kitty2399
Summary: Pepperony! Romantic tension! A new mission leaves Pepper questioning her job! Can Pepper cope with Iron Man? Will Rhodey be the next Iron Man? Can I write a chapter without fluff? Hope you like this Action/Comedy/Romance/Drama! Please Read & Review!
1. Flirting and Ankle Troubles

Disclaimer: I don't own Iron Man, or any of the characters, I'd love to, but I don't. :)

P.S. Sorry for any unwanted fluff :) This was done at 2 in the morning, so sometimes I can't help but add cute things. :) -- Like this smiley.

"So, tell me more about this suit of yours, Mr. Stark... or is it Iron Man now?" Pepper loved to tease Tony whenever she had the chance, "How many times have you even used this thing? You know you're going to get yourself hurt."

"Now how are you so sure about that Miss Potts?" Tony couldn't help but grin as he continued to flirt with his loyal assistant.

"Well?...You're not responsible, you're not reasonable when making decisions, and you've never been the best with coordination."

"Well, that's why I have you Pepper..."

And just as he was about to praise Pepper on her grace, she slipped on the last stair leading to his room and found herself falling into his arms, and all she could mutter out was, "Oh crap."

Tony lead her to a chair, and couldn't help but laugh as he continued, "...that's why I have you. You're always so graceful."

"Thank you Mr. Stark..." Pepper snickered as she got back up on her feet.

Pepper laughed but winced as she stood up, she hoped that Tony wouldn't notice, he noticed before she could finish her thought.

"Whoa, are you all right? Here, sit down." Tony said, completely changing the tone of their conversation.

Pepper, in the way that only Pepper could, protested, "I'm just fine Mr. Stark..."

"Pepper, you need to give yourself a break every once in a while! Here, let me check your ankle out, do you know what's wrong with it yet?"

"What's wrong with it? What are you talking about Mr. Stark?"

"You've been limping on it for a couple of days." Tony said, as her rolled up her pants, "I hope you don't mind."

"No, it's all right... I had no idea you knew..."

"Oh, and one more thing," Tony interrupted, "If you call me Mr. Stark one more time, I think I'm going to have a brain aneurism."

Pepper laughed, and she nodded with a smile, "Fine, Mr. S... Fine Tony."

"God, it sounds nice when you call me Tony," he said smiling, "but maybe... Iron Man."

"Iron Man?" Pepper laughed.

"Yeah, try it!" he joked.

"Fine... Iron Man!"

Pepper laughed, and Tony smiled as he continued, "Okay, never mind, Tony is fine!"

They were both laughing as Tony was finishing the bandaging on Pepper's ankle, and both Tony and Pepper couldn't help but love this feeling.

Pepper loved the feeling of Tony taking care of her and of them being together. She loved how his rough hands felt on her skin, and she loved how gentle he was with her. Tony Stark has never been one to be gentle, but when he touched her, she could feel how distinct he was with every movement.

Tony, as well as Pepper, loved the VERY seldom moments in which he was able to take care of her, although they didn't usually last long. He loved the moments that he had when he could sweep Pepper off her feet (sometimes literally), and give her the chance to relax, for if there is anything that Pepper needs, it is more time to relax.

"There." Tony said, and as he finished up bandaging her ankle, he kissed her foot and smiled, "All better... I hope."

"It's perfect." Pepper replied, then leaned over and gave Tony a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you Tony."

"God, I love it when you say Tony." he growled into her ear.

"Then I guess I'll have to say it again."

"Not yet." Tony said with a grin climbing up the right side of his mouth.

"What am I waiting for?"

And, as if someone had planned it, that phone had to ring.

"...I have to get it." Pepper said with a disappointed smile.

"No," was all that Tony was able to groan out as Pepper turned away.

"Will that be all, Mr. Stark?" Pepper chuckled as she turned back to see a very disappointed Tony.

"Yes," he sighed, "That will be all Miss Potts."

I'd love it if someone sent a review or message including any ideas for this story! If anyone would like to work with me on this, I'd love it!

Have a great day!

Kitty2399


	2. A New Plan and Tearful Reunions

As Pepper left the room to get the phone, Tony unenthusiastically went back to work on the suit, checking for any readjustments.

"Why do I even have a freaking phone?" Tony muttered loudly to himself, loud enough for Pepper, who was just walking in, to hear.

"You have a phone for times when Rhodey needs to talk to you... like now." Pepper smiled at the doorway, holding the phone up to him, "He says it's CONFIDENTIAL, personally, I don't believe a word of it, but maybe I've been around you two too much."

"Thanks Pepper, I'll talk to him." Tony casually took the phone and answered in a yawn, "What's up Rhodey?"

"Tony, there's a problem. Is anyone there with you?"

Tony saw Pepper silently leave the room, and he proceeded, "...Now is this about women? You know I already told you, if you need to borrow the car..."

"TONY, it's not that kind of problem, listen to me. Stark Industries gave us the last of their weapons, right?"

"Yeah... What is this about Rhodes?"

"Well, I don't know what idiot was in charge of making sure that these weapons were secure, but they seem to have misplaced them."

"MISPLACED THEM!?" Pepper could hear Tony's yell from the other room.

"It doesn't get better." Rhodes added," Tony, we think that the people who stole the weapons are hiding them near where you were captured."

"Do these guys ever learn?" Tony grumbled as he pulled up information about the weapons that were stolen.

"We want to go in and see what we could find, I..."

"You know I have to go in there with you Rhodes." Tony said.

"Tony, don't even think about it. With all of the publicity on you now... this is a secret mission we're working on. We don't need any photographers following us around."

"I can get rid of those idiots in a second, you know that as well as I do."

"It's not only that. None of us want to see you get hurt Tony."

"I can take on those guys!"

"Tony, these guys know what you built, they know about Iron Man, hell, the whole WORLD knows about Iron Man! They will be ready, and I am not going to drag my and all of the other boys' asses around trying to find you again!"

"Rhodes, I'll be fine."

"I'm not taking that chance again Tony!" Rhodes yelled.

"Rhodes, you have to trust me, I know what I'm doing. I've changed up the equipment on the suit. I fixed any possible damages, I know what I'm doing! Rhodey, I could go in there and spare some of your men injures, even death."

"Tony, I don't know..."

"Hey Rhodey?" Tony's voice began to change, "I've got a second suit."

"Second suit?" Rhodes said with a lighter sound to his voice, "Meaning?"

"Meaning... if you come down here, maybe we can see if your suit is ready, then we won't need to send anyone in."

"..."

"Rhodey?"

"... I'll come on in tomorrow to check it out, make sure it's ready by then."

"Yes!" Tony shouted, "Thank you Rhodey! I'll talk to you tomorrow"

"Tony..."

"Mmm hmm, okay bye!"

"Tony, I..." Before he could finish his thought, Tony had closed the phone.

"So how long have you been standing there Pepper?" Tony said, not taking his eyes off of his work.

Pepper stood by the door in shock as she replied, "I, I heard some yelling, and I came down here. I heard you mention a mission and a second suit for Rhodey. Tony, what's going on?"

Tony's eyes glistened as he thought about what he was going to say to Pepper. How could he tell her where he was going? He knew what it was like after he had been captured, how Pepper felt. He could remember that day like it was yesterday...

(Flashback)

After Tony got back, he knew that Pepper was going to try her best to make sure he was feeling okay for a while, and as much as he didn't like it, he also knew that in times of emotion, Pepper Potts resorted to a hell of a lot of useless work to try to get her mind off of things.

For a couple days, Pepper made sure that Tony was safe and comfortable, and she made sure that he had as many cheeseburgers as he wanted. Of course, in these couple of days, she barely said two words to him.

Finally, by day 3, Tony had had enough. He missed Pepper for so long, and now that she wasn't talking to him, he missed her even more. He needed to talk to her.

As he stormed across the hall, he muttered to himself some of what he might say to Pepper when he saw her. If he was going to be to the point, he would say, "Pepper, I'm tired of this, what's WRONG?" If he was going to be sweet and sensitive, he was going to say something like, "Pepper, I've missed you for so long..." and then continue on about how he missed her.

As he finally reached her room, with no hesitation he swung open the door to find Pepper, a crying mess, sitting at her desk that was now overflowing with tissues. Her eyes were red and puffy, and Tony could barely see her face with her hands surrounding most of it.

He tried to talk, tried to move, but all he could get out was, "Pep..." before he heard her reply.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark. I..."

And before she could say anything else, Tony ran to her desk, took her in his arms, and held her.

"I'm sorry Mr. Stark, I was so worried about you. I missed you so much."

"I missed you too Pepper. Not a day went by that I didn't think of you. I mean, what if they asked me my social security number? I would have been screwed!"

Tony joked to try to make Pepper feel better, and as Pepper laughed, she put her fingers through his hair and smiled, "I guess so Mr. Stark."

Tony didn't even see it coming, but before he knew it, he felt himself crying in Pepper's arms, and as he rested his head on her shoulders, he said, "Now, what did I do without you for so long?"

"I don't know." Pepper replied, and for a while, they just sat there on the floor in eachother's arms, laughing and crying, not even knowing how much the other loved them.

(Flashback over)

"Tony?" Pepper repeated, "What's going on?"

Have to stop for now, but I'll write more soon! Hope you like! Love to hear any comments!


	3. Invincible?

"Tony?" Pepper sounded much more impatient now that she had to ask Tony a third time.

"Rhodey just has a mission for Iron Man." Tony tired to brush her off, but there was no doubt in his mind that Pepper was going to learn everything by the time she left the room.

"Now, does he?" Pepper still sounded suspicious as she continued, "So, why didn't he tell me about it?"

"Pepper, he didn't even want to tell me about it." Tony began to fidget with his mouse, and soon the whole screen seemed like a blur of letters and numbers.

"So, why is Iron Man involved?" Pepper didn't stop pushing Tony as he continued with his work.

"I just think that the mission could be handled much easier if Iron Man was involved."

"What kind of mission is this Tony?" Pepper almost didn't want to ask.

For a while, Tony just sat at his desk, trying to think of what to say, and by now, Pepper had had enough, "Tony, what are you not telling me?"

"What do you mean, What am I not telling you'?" Tony snapped back at Pepper.

His reaction took Pepper by surprise, but Tony soon turned around and said, "I'm sorry Pepper, I just don't want to hurt you."

"Tony, believe me, I've seen you blast off in a suit of Titanium Alloy, I doubt anything can phase me any more." Pepper joked, but as she walked up closer to him, she was much more serious, "Tony, what hurts me is what you're NOT TELLING me. Please."

Tony took a deep breath, and knew that if he just got everything out now, things would be a lot better, right?

"Pepper, the last of the weapons that were made by Stark Industries have been stolen, Rhodes has an idea of where they are, and I want to go with him." he took a deep breath as he was going to top it all off, "Rhodey thinks that the weapons were placed in the cave where I was captured."

"WHAT?" Pepper has never been the type to yell, and anyone could tell when she was yelling by the unusual change in pitch as the volume of her voice hit max.

"God, this is why I didn't want to tell you." Tony sighed, falling back into his chair, "I didn't want you to get upset."

"Oh I'm not upset." Pepper replied, "I'm angry! How the hell could you be so stupid?!"

"Stupid!?... wait, did you just curse?" Tony said in shock.

"Yeah, and I mean EVERY WORD OF IT!" Pepper screamed, "How in the WORLD do you find THIS a decent solution to Rhodey's problem?"

"Pepper, I can save soldiers lives if I just go and take care of it."

"Do you think that the ones who took the weapons haven't planned this?" Pepper yelled, "Do you think that they're incompetent? that... that they're STUPID? The whole world knows about Iron Man, do you think that they took these weapons without having a plan of taking Iron Man down? Or do you think that they just didn't think about it?"

"Pepper, the weapons that they took are the strongest things anyone has got right now, and I was able to plow through those things like it was nothing! With the suit on..."

"What? You're invincible? You can't get hurt?"

"No Pepper, it's just..."

"No, Tony, this isn't fair! You're the one parading around, risking your life in the suit, acting invincible, while Rhodey and I are still the ones who had to spend THREE MONTHS realizing that you're not. And you want to go BACK THERE?" tears were streaming down Pepper's face as she turned to leave.

"Pepper, I..." Tony tried to talk, but Pepper continued walking out of his room, until by the time she was halfway up the stairs he yelled, "Pepper!"

Pepper could barely contain her tears as she stopped. Tony Stark could not mean this much to her if he was out risking his life. She couldn't love Tony this much.

"You're not invincible Ton... You're not invincible... Mr. Stark."

Pepper continued up the stairs and into her room, and Tony's heart was shattered into pieces. Half of him resided in his duty to his country, Iron Man's duty to his country. The second half resided in the pain of Pepper's last words as she continued up the staircase, "Mr. Stark".


	4. ESCALATION

As Pepper ran up the stairs, she couldn't contain her tears any longer. She loved Tony so much, but she knew that it was impossible. Reaching her room, she flung open her closet and hauled out the old luggage that she hadn't used in years. She had to leave Tony Stark's life.

Tony however, continued to nurse his scotch, stuck in his chair, and stuck on the dual problems of healing his broken heart and learning to live with himself. Half of Tony was Iron Man, the new hero of the people, but the other half of him was Mr. Stark, the man who would always be in love with Pepper Potts.

Sadness can be poetic; anger can just be ugly. Tony and Pepper were now very angry.

Unfortunately for home, possessions, and of course Jarvis, this resulted in one hell of a lot of yelling and breakage.

Pepper cursed like a sailor and broke anything that wouldn't fit in her luggage; Tony had his suit, which meant that he spent his time blowing up stuff. Neither of them were very smart in their decisions, but God help anyone who tried to stop them. Tony and Pepper quickly tired of the warmups and were now ready for the main event.

Tony took off the suit and stormed out of the lab as Pepper collected her bags and stomped out of her room, the two combatants collided in the living room. They stepped into the ring ready to scream and curse at each other.

"So, what the hell is that?" Tony glared as he gestured toward the suitcases in Pepper's hands.

"I quit Mr. Stark. I'm sorry to inform you on such short notice, but I need a more reasonable job." she enunciated each word with disdain.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tony demanded in a tone more suited to his Armani suits than his current tight black T-shirt and sweats.

"It means exactly what you think, Tony!" Pepper yelled at him, a task becoming much easier, her skill far more proficient. "I need a job that I know I will have in a few years, I need to know that my boss isn't going to GET HIMSELF KILLED one of these days, and I need a job with someone who will appreciate what I have to say."

"Shit Pepper, you don't think that I appreciate what you say?" Tony grew more and more angry, walking closer and closer until he was nose to nose with his beautiful assistant.

"You don't think I appreciate EVERYTHING YOU SAY?!" Tony didn't realize that his fingers were digging into Pepper's arms until she started to cry, but even then, all he could think about, all he wanted was to pull her closer and grind his lips to hers. Instead, he let go, feeling his heart sink down to his feet, "I'm sorry Pepper," Tony growled, fighting back a tear in his eye, "I need you more than anyone in my life, but right now, I need you to understand--" Tony wiped away the one tear that escaped, and squared his shoulders. "I am Tony Stark, but I am also Iron Man."

"That's what makes this so hard," Pepper choked out, unable to look into his vulnerable dark eyes. "I need Mr. Stark, I need him to be here when I come into work. I need to know that he is going to be all right, but when you're Iron Man, I NEVER know that you are going to be all right, and as much as I need Mr. Stark," Pepper drew a breath then surrendered to the need to fall into Tony's brown eyes, "I need you more."

Tony struggled to find the words to say, but the words just wouldn't come. Pepper grabbed her bags and turned towards the door. All Tony could do was stand there, numb, with tears in his eyes.

As Pepper walked toward the landing, she turned back only once, to say, "Goodbye, Mr. Stark."

The formality of the address struck Tony harder than ever. "Pepper..."

"It's Miss Potts." she cut him off. She resettled the bags and marched towards the door with more anger than caution, breaking her shoe heel in her haste. Her ankle collapsed under the weight.

"Damnit!" she yelled, as she dropped to the floor, searching for the broken pieces of her shoe. The carpet blurred as tears fell from her eyes. "Where is it?" She whispered in a broken voice.

It killed Tony to see Pepper like this, helpless, on his living room floor, searching out the broken pieces of a shoe. Emotion took control and he rushed to help her, kneeling next to her, searching out a sensible black heel.

He looked at Pepper and couldn't stop himself from brushing trembling fingertips over her cheek. "Now that's why I need you Potts," He teased, "You're always so graceful."

Pepper wanted to either walk out the door or slap him, but she secretly loved it when Tony joked with her. It was in those moments that she saw the true Tony Stark. She gave up the fight, and laughed at his teasing.

"Now see," Tony smiled, as he tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, "That's the Pepper I love!"

This caught him, Pepper, hell, even Jarvis off guard, but he said it, and he wasn't taking it back. Pepper's jaw dropped, "What?"

"Yeah, you heard me." Tony may have been smirking in the way that only Tony Stark can smirk, but his eyes glowed with both hope and fear.

Pepper sat there for a while, looking in his eyes, as the words demanded to be said, "I love you too Tony."

Tony's rough hands trembled as they framed her face, touching the skin that he had only dreamed of touching for so long. He longed to gaze upon Pepper's beautiful blue eyes but was submerged in her plump pink lips, and what they must have felt like, tasted like. As he leaned toward her, he breathed in the aroma of her perfume, almost loosing himself in the scent of her neck, when the sight of her lips captured his gaze again. She bit her bottom lip, revealing a teasing view of nervousness and desire.

His brown eyes darkened as he stole her lips in dominance. She gave herself to him and wrapped her arms around his neck to allow herself to drown in the pleasure he was bestowing upon her. As his lips traveled from her mouth to her cheek and down her neck, she began to breathe harder, directing his head to where she wanted his lips to reside.

"Now... it's a really good thing... I'm not... your boss." Tony mumbled, his lips climbing back up to meet hers.

"Not my boss?" Pepper asked as quickly gasped for air.

"Well, apparently you quit." Tony smirked as he found his way to her shoulders and down her arm.

"Well, it's a good thing." Pepper leaned in and began raining kisses on his neck, paying extra attention to a scar on his neck from his capture that she noticed the week he got back home, "It would be quite controversial if I stayed."

"Yes it would." Tony joked with a familiar grin, "Now we wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Oh no, nothing like that." Pepper continued teasing, and as she kissed up his neck and reached his ear, she whispered, "That would just be unprofessional, Mr. Stark."

"Mr. Stark?" he questioned.

Pepper beamed, as she fixed her statement, "Well, maybe..."

"Wait!" Tony said with a smirk.

"Again, I must ask, what am I waiting for?" Pepper questioned.

And, God help Jarvis, that poor little robot controlling the house, just had to barge in, "Mr. Stark?"

"No!" They both sighed, and as Pepper's head fell on his panting chest, Tony groaned, "Yes, Jarvis?"

"Sir, if you would like to continue, I understand, but may I recommend you departing to another room? It appears that Mr. Rhodes has come a little early asking about his suit. I let him in and..."

"Jarvis, tell him to come back later," Tony said as he picked Pepper up in his arms, "I'm in the middle of something."

"But sir! I let him in and..."

"Tony!?" All three could hear Rhodey as he was walking toward the living room.

"Tony run!" Pepper whispered, and before Tony started to run to the next room, he stopped.

"God, I love it when you say Tony."

Sorry for this chapter taking so long! Thank you for your patience! And thank you to everyone who has sent such kind feedback on the story! You all have really helped me keep working on this! Finally, a special thanks to **Mistress of the Rose**, and **onetreefan** for help with this fourth chapter! Hope to have the next chapter up tomorrow! :) Thank you guys!

Kitty2399


	5. Just A Bunch Of Kids

"Tony, go!" Pepper squirmed in his arms, as she heard Rhodey's footsteps coming closer to the door.

Tony got his focus back, and replied, "Oh, oh yeah!" as he hurried to the closest door. What he wasn't prepared to find was that the door had been locked.

"Jarvis?" Tony asked impatiently, "Why is the door locked?"

"Well sir, you asked me to keep this door and many of the doors locked when company is over. It is set on auto-lock for when anyone other than you or Miss Potts comes through the door," Jarvis quickly replied, he could tell that Tony and Pepper were getting agitated, "and based on the fact that Colonel Rhodes came in, I..."

"Well, can you change the rule really quick, I'm kind of in a rush right now!" Tony reached for the door knob and kept trying to turn it open even though he knew very well that it was locked.

"Well I'll try my best...um... let me find the code for this door..." Jarvis didn't rush, He found himself more amused by Tony and Pepper's faces, as he attempted to open the door.

"Jarvis, hurry!" Pepper, still in Tony's arms, was beginning to also reach for the door knob, panicking as she saw the shadow of Rhodey's shoe at the bottom of the door.

"Okay! I think I found it!" and as Jarvis entered the code, Colonel James Rhodes swung open the door.

"Never mind, wrong code." Jarvis snickered at the awkward silence that was sure to come.

"Jarvis, you're completely useless, why do I keep you around, again?" Tony rolled his eyes, as his focus left, from both the woman in his arms and the poor guy who walked in, to Jarvis.

"Well sir," Jarvis' snickering came back, "If I weren't here, I'm not sure that you could find your way around the house, let alone be capable of doing normal activities."

"That was a rhetorical question." Tony argued.

"Well, you didn't build me with the concept of rhetorical question." Jarvis was having too much fun debating to stop now.

"And yet, you can argue with me all you want?" Tony replied.

Pepper soon lost her patience, as she demanded, "Tony! Stop fighting with your inventions. Jarvis, stop arguing with Tony..."

"Still love it when you say Tony." Tony added as he kissed her cheek.

"Thank you," Pepper kissed him back, then came back to her senses as she remembered the poor guy who walked in, "And Rhodey!... Where's Rhodey?"

As Tony, Jarvis, and Pepper were busy arguing over God knows what, Rhodey walked away with a simple, "I'll come by later." and attempted to forget everything he saw.

Tony, Pepper, and Jarvis spread out to look for him, and Tony finally found him where he expected from the start. Rhodey was in the lab, checking out his new suit.

As Tony walked in, Rhodey turned his head, and grinned as he looked back at the suit, "Navy blue, just like I asked. Tony, this is..."

"I see you found the suit." Tony had never seen Rhodes this excited before, he looked like a kid on Christmas morning who got the race cars he wanted, and Tony felt a little boost of pride as he saw that look on Rhodey's face.

"So, can I try it on?" Tony could have sworn that he saw Colonel James Rhodes jump as he turned to face Tony.

"My God Rhodey!" Tony grinned, trying hard not to laugh at his best friend, "You're going to need a little more patience." As Tony saw the expression on Rhodey's face change so quickly, so childish, he almost lost it, "I told you that I would have it ready for you tomorrow, but if you sit and wait like a good little boy, I might have it done in an hour."

"AN HOUR?" Rhodey had anticipated this far more than he himself expected, and he knew that Tony had to be loving it.

Pepper and Jarvis came into the lab, and Pepper almost began to laugh on the spot when she saw the adolescent expression on Rhodey's face.

"See," Tony said, as he looked back at Pepper with a wink, "I even have someone other than me to keep you company while you're waiting."

"Fine!" Rhodey almost whined, which finally got both Pepper and Tony laughing. As Rhodey noticed the two looking at each other, he added, "So, if you don't mind me asking, what did I walk into?"

Tony, and Pepper began to grin at each other, and Tony replied, "Oh I forgot, have I introduced you to my girlfriend... Miss Potts, was it?"

Pepper joined in on the fun as she walked closer to Tony and grabbed his hand, "Oh yes. I'm glad you remembered."

"Wow, boyfriend and girlfriend?" Rhodey laughed, "Are we back to high school, or would that be Jr. High, with you two holding hands?"

"Well, I think that gives you an advantage," Tony joked, "Based on your display a couple of minutes ago, I would put you at around four years old? maybe five or six?"

"Fine! Fine!" Rhodey replied with a glare, "I'm just ready to get in that suit, so hurry up!"

"Okay..." Tony grinned and got a feeling of joy as he grabbed his screw driver and changed the instructions on his computer to Rhodey's suit model, "Let's see what we can do."

0000000

Sorry that this has taken so long to write, and thanks for your patience again, you guys are so great!

Thank you to **Amber-Jade James, Mistress of the Rose, onetreefan, Dodogrrl, sarafina89, Gabreya, Santoryuu-Zoro, rebirthfry, Steelafan, AkimaDoll, Velara, Animegirl18 aka Hope, Redlioness62, and everyone else** that has been sticking with this story and writing such sweet reviews! Your kind words and support have helped me with this so much!

I hope to have more up soon, but if anyone has any ideas for the story, I'd love any! Thanks again, and have a good one!

Kitty2399


	6. Rhodey's Suit

While Tony was finishing up the last details of Rhodey's suit, Rhodey had made himself at home, got drinks for the three of them, ordered pizza, and was waiting intently next to Pepper.

"My God, it's taking Tony a lot longer than I thought to finish this!" Rhodey was fidgeting on the couch in Tony's lab, staring at the suit and talking to Tony and Pepper, "How long has it been?"

"Well if my calculations are correct, and they always are, I started working about 12 minutes and 36, 37, 38 seconds ago." Tony said with a smirk. As he turned his head away from the suit for the first time in a while, he caught a glimpse his friend's pouting face, "Oh give me a break. The pout? Are you serious? I thought people got over the pout during Jr. High!"

"Jr. High, huh?" Pepper smiled as she came up from behind him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Now, tell me Tony," She whispered playfully in his ear, "Wasn't it you who was just pouting over pizza?"

"I don't think Rhodey noticed." Tony murmured so that Pepper could only hear, not taking his eyes off of his work, "Maybe we could just keep that detail to the two of us."

"Deal... as long as you turn around." Pepper replied with a smile.

"I guess..." Tony rolled his eyes playfully as he turned around, and looked his beautiful girlfriend's face. What he didn't expect was Pepper to drape her arms around him and press her lips against his with no hesitation, and as she finally pulled back, Tony wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back onto his lap and whispered, "Now what good did I do to deserve that?"

"I guess I've just wanted that for a long time." She said as she slid her fingers through his hair. "And I was growing impatient."

"Well good," Tony pulled her in one more time for a kiss, until desperately, Rhodey stopped them.

"For the love of God!" Rhodey certainly didn't lack expression as he covered his eyes with his hands and shook his head with disappointment, "This is disgusting! Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for you guys, really, but I'm having a little trouble keeping my breakfast down with you two making out... and NOT working on my suit!"

"Pushy!" Tony snickered, and as Pepper went back to the couch, Tony looked at her and said, "I'm sorry that we couldn't simply share a moment together honey, it looks like Rhodey needs to ruin all of our fun." He laughed until his attention went from his two best friends on the couch back to his work in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah yeah, I'm a party killer, but I want that suit to get done!" Rhodey said as he became, yet again, completely transfixed with his suit.

"Pardon me sir." Jarvis came back into the room, and seemed to be quite amused as he continued. "There seems to be a bit of a problem."

"Yeah, what is it?" Tony was completely focused on the suit, as he was much more careful with this new model than his. This time it wasn't his life he was risking, it was his best friend's.

"Well, there seems to be a pizza delivery man walking around your house. Looking for you."

"Pardon?" Tony would have been upset, if only it didn't sound so funny.

"Look, I could go on all day talking about how the kid waited by the door for 10 minutes like an idiot, then had a panic attack when he heard me try to talk to him, but the point is, there's a kid wandering your house who just wants to give you some pizza." By now, Jarvis had sounded very annoyed and ready for this situation to be settled.

"I'll get it for you." Pepper stood up and walked toward the door, "Thanks Jarvis."

"Thanks Pepper." Tony said with a smile, and as he heard the door close on her way out, Rhodey could hear him mutter out, "God, I love that woman."

Rhodes smiled as he saw Tony happily continue on with his work. "You know Tony, I'm going to love to give you guys a hard time about this, but honestly, I couldn't be happier for you both. You guys deserve it."

"Thanks Rhodey." Tony smiled and Pepper came in, four pizzas in hand. "Now, that's weird," Tony immediately noticed the problem, "I thought I only ordered three of those."

"I know, but the pizza guy felt bad for all the trouble. I told him it was fine, but the poor guy made sure we would have an extra pizza. Let's see what the mystery pizza is..." And as Pepper put the pizza's down, she carefully opened the top box to find a small pepperoni pizza. "Mmm, pepperoni."

"My favorite!" Both Pepper and Tony shouted out.

"Would you two stop that!" Rhodey rolled his eyes, and took another swig of beer, in fear that the cuteness might just kill him.

Tony smiled, and as he turned his head away from his work, anticipation written on his face. "Hey Rhodey?"

"Yeah?" he said, grabbing a slice of pizza.

"I think your suit is ready." As Tony put down all of his tools and looked at Rhodey, he got the great satisfaction of watching his best friend drop pepperoni pizza on his newly dry cleaned uniform.

"No way!" Rhodey shouted.

Tony laughed as he pointed at his uniform, "You know, that is going to suck explaining that one to the dry cleaners."

"No, not that... well kind of that, but Tony, you got this thing done in 20 minutes!" Rhodey was nearly jumping off the walls as he finished talking.

"Now, don't make me start to blush." Tony teased, "I just don't feel that way about you."

"Shut up Tony." Rhodey sneered as he watched his friend laugh like a six year old girl, "So, are we ready yet?"

"Okay..." Tony said wondering if Rhodey might begin to jump up and down, "But first, pizza!"

"Aw man." Rhodey sighed.

"If you want to do something right now," Tony felt embarrassed to have to keep Rhodey this entertained, "You should probably get into your under suit, then this can go a little faster."

"Sounds great!"

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"Are you serious Tony!?" Tony let out a bark of laughter, and Pepper almost choked laughing as Rhodey waddled in wearing the tightest suit any of them have ever seen. "You don't expect me to wear this, do you?"

"You know," Tony tried to keep a straight face, but found it fading as he replied, "Some women find that sexy!"

"You suck, Tony." Rhodes replied, beginning to laugh himself, "Now let me wear my freaking suit!"

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As Tony directed Rhodes in putting on his suit, he was proud to see everything working well, and even more proud to see Rhodes catching on so well.

As Rhodey stepped into the suit, he could feel everything clasp on perfectly, and he could feel the anticipation well up inside of him; he was ready to go. By the time a half hour had passed, Rhodey had learned how to get in and out of the suit with the occasional fall, much faster than Tony had expected.

"Man, this thing feels great." Rhodey was ready for more, "So, are you going to show me how to fly?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rhodey," Tony explained, "You still need to memorize all of the equipment on this thing, and I can assure you, your first flight will not be in this. I have some extra parts of my first suits for that." He could tell that Rhodey had been anticipating flight far more than he did. "Trust me man, you'll thank me later. You're going to fall a lot of times before you start to fly, and I can assure you, you would much rather fall on your own than with the weight of a ton of Titanium Alloy."

"Wow..." Rhodey said, "That could be a hallmark card, man." He proceeded to laugh as he walked to the flight station.

"Hey, what was that for?" Tony said as he followed him to the station.

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Finally, after 10 hours of teaching and learning, Tony and Rhodes called it a day, and while Rhodes was asleep on his couch and Pepper was sitting at the kitchen table making some tea, Tony went to grab an ice pack from the kitchen.

Pepper observed Tony. He was cut and bruised, and appeared worse than he did after coming back from a mission. "Now, what happened to you Tony?" Pepper said, grabbing his free hand on his way toward the table.

Tony sat slowly and carefully as he tried not to bump into anything, "I think Rhodey tried harder to learn how to use the suit today than I've seen anyone try, but God love him, he is a klutz!"

The two of them laughed as they turned back to see Rhodey in a deep sleep on the couch, adorned with cuts and bruises matching Tony's, "So, he's spending the night?" Pepper squeezed Tony's hand and smiled as he turned back to her.

"Yeah, I talked to him at about 1:15, he said that he doesn't have anything going on tomorrow until 5:30, so I offered for him to stay here. He said no at first, but by the time I got back from putting everything away, he was out like a light." Tony grinned as he looked back one more time to see the tired and unprofessional look on Rhodey's face.

"Do you want me to get him some blankets?" Pepper offered.

"No, it's all right, I've got it." Tony kissed Pepper's forehead, and went on his way.

As Pepper sat, waiting for her tea to boil, she felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

As Tony walked back in, wearing an old gray T - shirt and dirty jeans, carrying a couple of ugly looking blankets, Pepper felt like she was looking at a greek god, he was perfect whether he tried or not. He was too prefect. She saw him throw a couple blankets on Rhodey, and say, "Goodnight Rhodes," and that was enough to send her over the edge. And here she was with messy hair and no jacket or shoes.

As her tea began to boil, Tony looked up just in time to see Pepper turn away from him and to her tea pot. By now she had taken off her jacket and all she was wearing was a blue tank and a skirt. She had taken her shoes off and pulled the elastic out of her hair, so that all of her long, strawberry blonde hair swayed as she moved. She took his breath away. And here he was in nothing but a ratty old shirt and dirty blue jeans.

As they caught eachother's eye they slowly stepped toward eachother, Pepper with a cup of tea in hand, and Tony, still holding an ice pack to his forehead. As they finally got close enough to eachother, they both put the cup and the ice on the table and shyly said, "Hey."

"Now if we keep saying things in unison young lady, I might have to bring back the jinx' game." Tony said with a smirk.

"Well, we wouldn't want that." Pepper smiled.

"You want to watch a movie?" Tony said quietly, both of them feeling like freshman in High School.

"Well, it's 3:20 in the morning..." Pepper said with a smirk, "Of course."

And by the end of the night, Tony and Pepper had seen countless episodes of The Office, played tricks on Rhodes while he was asleep, and felt perfect, sleeping on the couch in eachother's arms. That is until Rhodey woke up and found what they did.

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Hey guys! Sorry that this chapter took so long, and again, sorry for any unwanted fluff, I was going to try to make this as "not cute" as possible, but by the time I had finished, I realized that I failed miserably, lol! :) Thank you guys for sticking with the story, your support really helps! Thank you to **Amber-Jade James, Mistress of the Rose, onetreefan, Dodogrrl, sarafina89, Gabreya, Santoryuu-Zoro, rebirthfry, Steelafan, AkimaDoll, Velara, Animegirl18 aka Hope, Redlioness62, bukojuice, biscuit1226, Allie108, CrazyWiking, nhi-bubz, and everyone else **that has been so amazing through this, you guys rock! :)

Hope to have more soon, and as always, I love ideas and reviews!

Kitty2399


	7. THE END?

As Colonel James Rhodes woke up from a very deep sleep, rolled up on a couch with a tattered blanket covering him, he found himself unpleasantly surprised.

He felt worse than he had in ages with various cuts and bruises and a bump on his head that was the size of a baseball. As much as that wasn't too pleasant, it was no surprise due to the day he had before. What surprised him was his head sticking to his pillow and the smell of... whipped cream?

"Tony?!" Rhodey yelled as he sat up from the couch, "Tony? Pepper? What did you do?"

As Rhodey rushed to find a mirror, it was no surprise for him to figure out that Tony and Pepper had, of course, needed to amuse themselves sometime during the night and found his head covered in whipped cream amusing.

"Damnit guys!" Rhodey yelled, as Tony and Pepper entered the room giggling, "I have a meeting today at 5:30 and I smell and look like a whipped cream can!"

Tony and Pepper pointed and laughed like the kids they realized the were, as Rhodey sighed, "You guys are terrible. What time is it anyway?"

"Well..." Tony shrugged, bracing himself for the panic of Rhodey, "It looks like we slept in until 4:45."

"What!?" Rhodey jumped up and started pacing the room trying to find something to do, "I have to get cleaned up, and I need to get a new outfit because this one is covered in pizza, and I have to drive over to the meeting!"

"Relax Rhodey!" Pepper stepped in, "While you and Tony were asleep," Pepper looked at Tony, who was just as surprised as Rhodey, "I had a new outfit of yours brought to the house, a car is waiting for you at any time to take you to the meeting, and there's a shower waiting for you upstairs."

Tony looked at Pepper in disbelief as he asked, "Now how did you know..."

"You made me your assistant for a reason." Pepper said, leaning in to kiss Tony before leaving the room.

"Now, I was under the impression that I hired you because you are so damn cute." He joked as he kissed her goodbye and she walked out the door.

"Thanks Pepper!" Rhodey yelled as she strolled back to her office, "Well, I'm going to go take a shower then..." And just as Rhodey was about to leave the room, his cell phone went off.

"Hello... Yes, this is Rhodes... Yes, I talked to Mr. Stark about the equipment... Yes, the suit is ready... No, you don't need to send anyone else in... Yes, Tony and I can handle it on our own..."  Rhodey rolled his eyes as he continued to explain things to the troupe, "When do you need us?... What?... Why didn't you tell me sooner?... We'll be there as soon as possible." As Rhodey closed the phone, it was obvious that something was wrong.

"What's going on Rhodes?" Tony said as Rhodey began to take off his uniform.

"It looks like we're going to be needed sooner than we expected." Rhodey said, grabbing his under suit, "The troupe needs us to destroy some of the weapons now."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Rhodey!" Tony said, "I hate to break it to you, but there's no way you're going with me! I haven't shown you all of the equipment, you don't know how to use half of the weapons, and I can assure you, you don't have any IDEA what the force of supersonic' feels like yet. It looks like Iron Man is going to have to take on this little project on his own." Tony grabbed Rhodey's under suit, and gave it to Jarvis, "Don't let him have it."

"No way Tony, you aren't doing this by yourself. You need backup." Rhodey was not letting his friend go back there alone. "I'm going with you."

"Under no circumstances Rhodey. I hate to be the adult here... As a matter of fact, I hate to be the adult ever... But I really hate having to tell you no on this. Sorry, but there is no way I'll allow you to go and get yourself killed." Tony was serious about this, and when Tony is serious, he usually gets his way, "Jarvis, lock down all of the systems on Colonel Rhodes' suit, don't let anyone but me in the system under any circumstances."

"Tony. I want to do this." Rhodey was getting desperate and he would probably beg to go with him on this mission.

"No Rhodey, you're being immature." By this time, Tony began to take off his old clothes and change into his under suit, and he wasn't taking Rhodey seriously anymore.

"Tony... you're sounding..." Rhodey pleaded, "Sounding... like Pepper!"

"And what's wrong with that?" Tony said in a less than confident manner, for he knew exactly what Rhodey meant.

"Oh nothing is wrong with that..." Rhodey argued, "... unless you're some Iron Man or something! Hmmm, I wonder..."

"Goodbye Rhodey!" Tony said, leaving the room to go to the last place he needed to go before he put on his suit. Pepper's office.

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Pepper was working nonstop in her office, and when Tony walked in in his black suit, it caught her off guard, and she stood up and looked at him suspiciously.

"It's a little tight, I know." Tony laughed as he glanced into Pepper's eyes, his Pepper's eyes. Damn did that feel good.

"Where are you going?" Pepper was trying to keep on a brave face, but all of her fear came out in the cracks in her voice as she spoke. "What are you doing?"

Tony had a tendency to forget how painful it is to see Pepper so worried until he sees her worried again, then it hits him like a ton of bricks. "Um... Rhodey just got a call... they need me to destroy some weapons now."

Pepper knew she had to be strong for Tony, but she had to hold back tears as she looked into his eyes. "Do you have backup? Is Rhodey going with you?"

"No, I don't yet." Tony felt guilty for having to tell Pepper that he was doing this mission, like others on his own, but he had to. "Rhodey wants to come with me, but he just isn't ready yet."

"I am too, you stubborn son a bitch!" Rhodey yelled from his living room. "This is SO STUPID!"

"So... he's taking it well." Pepper tried to lighten up the conversation, and they laughed, but just as fast as she became light hearted, she became serious again, and as tears fell from her eyes, she grabbed his face and grinded her lips against his, allowing them one more farewell kiss. "You be careful! Got that?" Pepper tried to be as tough as she could through her tears, and all Tony wanted to do was stay there with her in his arms.

"I will." He cradled her head in his hands, and as she pulled away from him, she could feel the humming of his arc reactor get stronger. "I'll be back home soon. Just make sure Rhodey doesn't do anything too stupid."

As he was leaving the room, his hand gripping the door, the only force capable of stopping him in his tracks were the final words of his Pepper. "Tony?"

"Yes?" He couldn't turn back and look at her face, or he wouldn't have the strength to leave.

And with no cracking, no hesitation, no problem, Pepper Potts strongly replied, "I love you."

"I love you too Pepper." Tony hummed through the lump in his throat as he fought back tears. "Always have and always will."

"Then go." Pepper smiled strongly through her tears, "You've got a job to do Iron Man."

And as Pepper recollected her paperwork and Tony was flying through the air, both of them wore a smile.

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Thank you guys SO MUCH for being SO PATIENT! I am awful for not posting for so long! I have been getting ready for a trip to Sacramento, and I finally get here, and my writers block goes away! WOO HOO! GO VACATIONS! lol :)

**Thank you so much to ****sarafina89****, ****Steeleafan****, ****Santoryuu-Zoro****, ****rebirthfry****, ****onetreefan****, ****Amber-Jade James****, ****Mistress of the Rose****, ****Gabreya****, ****Redlioness62****, ****Allie108****, ****biscuit1226****, ****bukojuice****, ****Velara****, ****AkimaDoll****, ****CrazyWiking****, ****nhi-bubz****, ****Animegirl18 aka Hope****, Dodogrrl, and EVERYONE who has been so supportive through reviews, favorites, or just sticking around to see how this story unfolds! You guys ROCK! :)**

**!!**AND FINALLY**!!**... I must know, **do you want to hear more**? I'm a little conflicted on whether or not I should continue, because I have _plenty_ of ideas for more chapters, but this kind of sounded like a good end. (except for Rhodey, lol!) If you could just leave a quick comment or review telling me whether or not I should continue, I'd be WAY HAPPY! And as always, reviews are greatly appreciated! lol. :)

Love ya guys! Thanks for the support!

Kitty2399


	8. CONTINUING! and Author's Notes

**Author's Note... notes!**

Note 1: THANK YOU!  
Hey guys! _Thank you so much_ for such sweet reviews! You guys have got me really inspired to keep working on this story!

Note 2: NEWS!  
For those who were wondering, I'm going to continue on with this story, and I'm going to keep going with this plot! **Hooray!**

Note 3: JUST SO YOU KNOW!  
If it makes any difference, I think I might start incorporating some other superheroes. :) I'm not sure yet if they will turn into main characters or if they will just be mentioned every once in a while, but either way, I hope it adds some fun to the story!

Note 4: VACATION ENDING!  
Well, it looks like my trip to Sacramento is coming to an end, which is sad because Sacramento was fun, but is good because now I can update the story! Woo hoo! I hope to have the next chapter up either tomorrow or the next day! :)

AND FINALLY: Once more, **THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH** for being so great with this story! You all have been **SO AWESOME**, thanks for sticking with this, and I hope that you like what is to come!

Kitty2399 :)


	9. PROGRESSION

Thank you guys so much for you patience! You have been so cool during my lame writer's block moments, thanks so much! I hope you enjoy this new chapter, and hopefully (if I don't get writer's block! lol!), I'll have more up soon! Thank you, and reviews are always loved! lol!

Kitty2399

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"Go" Tony could hear Pepper's last words to him ringing in his ears as he flew off, "You've got a job to do Iron Man."

As he flew through the air, trying to prepare himself for his mission, he kept getting lost thinking of Pepper.

That day he had said something he never thought he would have the strength to say "That's the Pepper I love!" He remembered the rare look of vulnerability in Pepper's ocean blue eyes as he rasped out some of the bravest words he's said, "Yeah, you heard me."

And then, without any warning or expectation, it happened. "I love you too." the four most unexpected words Tony could have heard were now singing in his ears. For the first time, Tony Stark wasn't praised by fans, he wasn't lusted for by strange women, he wasn't honored by "bigger people", he was just loved. It was the best feeling in his life, just to be loved.

As Tony departed over the crowded town of Los Angeles, he remembered the small talk he and Rhodey had while working of Rhodey's suit. For ten hours they exchanged stories and facts as well as talk on the suit. It was half past twelve when Rhodey took off his helmet and sat down on the couch, taking his first break from the suit in four hours.

"You really are dedicated to this, aren't you Rhodey?" Tony laughed as he noticed his best friend struggling to get all of the parts of the helmet off.

"Of course... of course I am Tony, I want to do this!" As he finally got ALL of the helmet material off of his head, he breathed a sigh of relief and laid back on Tony's couch. "But thank God that thing is off!" He laughed as he kicked his feet up and relaxed.

"I'll have Jarvis programmed to help you out of that thing when you come back to the place from missions." Tony said as he handed his friend a glass of well earned scotch.

"Thanks. How long would it take to get all the suit off with Jarvis' help?"

"Once you get used to it, about 15 minutes, tops." Tony smiled as he looked as he saw his friend gulp down all of his drink.

"I'll drink to that!" Rhodey was far too tired to be competent, let alone professional, "Now give me seconds on that!"

"Seconds mean no more suit for the day." Tony grabbed his drink and walked toward the liquor cabinet, secretly praying Rhodey would finally call it a night.

"Awesome suit? ... NOT INJURE CAUSING delicious beverage... drink!" Rhodey laughed as he fell back on the couch again hands behind his head.

For an hour, the two of them drank and talked about stupid things, until it had become quite pathetic... soon, anyone could tell that they had had too much to drink.

"Tony, it's time!" Rhodey giggled as he tried to talk in as deep a voice as he could, "... Truth... or dare?"

Both of them were on the hard floor, glasses in hand, giggling like six year old girls, as Tony replied, "Truth! Truth!... Your dares are just mean!"

"Fine!" Rhodey laughed as he put on his pondering face, then asked, "So, where are you planning on taking this You and Pepper' thing, I mean, is this the real deal or just sex?"

"Wow, Rhodey, wow..." Tony said, putting down his glass and trying as hard as he could to look directly at one of his five heads, "But guess what?... I'm in love with Pepper."

"Dude!" Rhodey had never used the term "dude" in his life, and now that he was drunk, it was the only thing he could say. "DUDE!"

"I'm serious man!" Tony said smiling, "I think I want to spend the rest of my life with her... You know when Pepper made me watch that stupid romantic movie with her, and the couple in the movie finally fell in love?"

"Dude" There it goes again. "You could be talking about ANY movie!"

"Well, anyway, you know that feeling where the guy was always happy about something stupid? And when the other guy asked him what was going on, he said he was happy because he was loved?"

"Dude," Yes, again, "I don't know what you're taking about!"

"I might be weird, but I don't think I've ever felt like that." Tony said grabbing his drink again, "You know... I know you guys care about me a lot, and my parents did as much as they could with a smart ass like me, but you know, that REAL LOVE thing? I guess I just gave up on that ever happening for me."

And before he knew it, Tony's mind was back in Afghanistan with Yinsen, "_So you're a man with everything... and nothing."_

He finally snapped back when Rhodey looked at him and said, "Dude, that is deep."

"Pepper told me she loved me today... it was weird... great! but... you know... with the way I act sometimes and... and how people look at me... I just never thought I'd get something like that... but..." Tony put down the glass when he finally realized how much he had sobered up in those few minutes.

He got up form the cold ground and was about to leave when Rhodey stopped him and yelled, "Hey Tony!... You know, I don't want to see you go and waste something that great... If she's the one... then do something about it."

"Thanks Rhodes." Tony said as he walked out the door.

"I think I'm going to sleep here!" Rhodey yelled, as he reached for the couch and fell back on the floor.

As Tony made it to the living room, he felt both a great deal of pain and happiness, until he saw the beautiful woman he loved, slumped on his couch, almost completely asleep, looking through countless e-mails.

As she caught a glance of him, she lifted a tired hand and waved shyly, "Hey stranger."

And before Pepper could stand up from the couch, Tony took her in his arms and planted her a deep, loving kiss, then broke the kiss to just hold her, "I love you so much Pepper... Thank you."

By this point, Pepper was very confused, pretty damn happy, but worried about Tony, "Thank you for what?"

"Everything..." Tony could get lost in Pepper's eyes at any moment, and as he stared at her, he didn't want to be found.

"I love you so much Tony, you know that?" Pepper said, brushing her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah, I think so." Tony smiled.

As Tony glided through the air, day dreaming of Pepper and the best words he'd ever heard, he was finally ready to go do his job while he stayed strong to the last words Pepper had told him, "You've got a job to do Iron Man."

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As Tony continued his flight, things were looking much dimmer for Rhodey and Jarvis.

"God damnit Jarvis, just give me the suit!" Rhodey was struggling with possible combinations for the suit, a pounding headache, and the fact that he knew he wouldn't win this battle.

"I'm sorry Colonel Rhodes, but Mr. Stark has given me specific orders to keep you here at the house until he comes home." Rhodey nearly broke the buttons on the code pad when he finally gave up and thought about what Jarvis was telling him.

"Damnit Tony," As if this day couldn't get worse for Rhodey, he looked at the time, it was 5:45, and he was already 15 minutes late for his meeting.  "Well, what about my meeting?"

"Mr. Stark had it canceled."

"What!?" Now Rhodey was pissed. It took him a 5 months just to set up a meeting with General Ross, and he wasn't going to miss it.

"Mr. Stark didn't believe that if I let you out of the house, you would go to your meeting, he thought you would try to follow him. And from what I've heard from him, I agree. You've caught quite a Tony Stark streak of missing meetings for secret projects lately." Jarvis snickered to himself in the way only a genius created machine could snicker.

"Well, I would have gone!" Rhodey yelled back, like it mattered now. "So, how did "the Amazing Tony Stark" pull it off this time?" Rhodey rolled his eyes as he searched Tony's cabinets for aspirin.

"Well, before he left the house, he tracked all of the numbers of the attendants, and during his flight, he called everyone who was planning on coming to the meeting. Your meeting has been postponed to tomorrow, same time."

"How did he get away with something like that? The General who set up the meeting was stubborn... and may I add rude... on having it today."

"Well, Colonel," Jarvis snickered again,  "It appears the General isn't as painfully stubborn when he is granted a decent amount of money."

"It figures." By this time, Rhodey had finally found the aspirin he needed and gulped it down as he loosened his tie and slumped down on the living room couch, "So I'm stuck here?"

"Basically sir."

Rhodey closed his eyes and attempted to fall asleep when Jarvis continued, "Sir, would it make you feel any better if I told you that Mr. Stark asked me to keep you preoccupied?"

"I'm fine Jarvis!" Rhodey closed his eyes, but the poor guy knew Jarvis was going to keep him up for at least 15 more minutes.

"Well, it wasn't really a request, as much as a statement he ordered me to tell you."

Rhodey braced himself, as he slowly opened his eyes. "What does Tony want?"

"Well, it appears Ms. Potts might need some assistance in figuring out where the missing weapons came from. It would be a great deal of help if you could assist her in..."

"Fine!" Rhodey yelled as he slumped off the couch and staggered down the hall. This was going to be a rough day.

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While Tony was thinking of her, and Rhodey was being convinced to help her, Pepper began working diligently on tracking down the missing weapons, who stole them, and who misplaced them.

That day, she finally admitted to herself that she has never loved someone so much as she loves Tony, and she would do anything for him, including let him be Iron Man as well as Tony. It felt like the hardest thing anyone could do, let him fight the big battles that risked his life, but if she was going to let him, she certainly wasn't letting him do it alone. If he was going to be in ANY battle, she was going to be right next to him, fighting the best way she could.

"Jarvis pull up some information on the company that lost the missing weapons."

"Certainly miss..." As Jarvis collected information, images of Stark Industries popped up on the screen, followed by images of a troupe lead by General Thaddeus Ross and an image of Ross and all of his information.

"Ross?" Pepper couldn't imagine what she was seeing until she asked Jarvis, "Jarvis, can you give me a family description?"

"Certainly... let's see, great grandfather is..."

"Jarvis?"

"Yes?"

"Can you just skip to younger relatives, like children, nieces or nephews?"

"Certainly miss... Daughter - Elizabeth Ross."

"Oh no." Pepper sighed as she looked up at the screen to see her old friend Betty Ross' face pasted to the screen, "Betty... Bruce."

As she took a deep breath she thought about the new horizons she was about to set foot in... and possibly a hell of a lot of trouble. Many troubling articles and a notice from the the government telling both Tony and her to steer clear from this story both told her not to look up what she was about to. But her instinct was telling her otherwise when she told Jarvis, "Jarvis, I want you to pull up all the info you can find on the Ross/Banner Gamma Radiation experiment... oh, and while you're at it!"

"You're starting to sound a lot like Tony." Jarvis sighed.

"Thanks!" Pepper knew that he hadn't meant it as a compliment, but when she made the decision to do this, she thought of Tony and the fact that he would probably be the only other person brave enough to do something like this. "and while you're at it, pull up all of the articles you can find with the keyword, "Hulk"."

00000

Again, thank you guys so much for you patience!

And before you go too fast, I just needed to add my special thanks **tosarafina89, Steeleafan, Santoryuu-Zoro, rebirthfry, onetreefan, Amber-Jade James, Mistress of the Rose, Gabreya, Redlioness62, Allie108, biscuit1226, bukojuice, Velara, AkimaDoll, CrazyWiking, nhi-bubz, Animegirl18 aka Hope, Dodogrrl, SiriusDoctorWhoHoney329, Heart of a Lion,** and **EVERYONE** who has been so supportive through reviews, favorites, or just sticking around to see how this story unfolds! You guys ROCK! :)

**AND FINALLY**, I'd love to know how you feel about this new direction with the story, do you _**LOVE**_ it, _**HATE**_ it, want a crazy _**TWIST**_? ;) I'd love to hear!

Love ya guys!  
Kitty2399


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